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On Friday, it fell to third when the team's horse was spooked by a moving video camera at the edge of the ring. The horse shied, causing two members of the team to fall. They were not injured.

The camera was still in place Sunday but was not an issue. Maitozo said the team changed its warm-up routine, concentrating on "staying calm."

"We took a step back and collected ourselves," he said. Their horse had a longer warm-up, which seemed to have a calming effect.

"To us, it's about connecting to the music, to each other, to the audience," he said. "We were just in our bodies today. It all came together."

Germany came into Sunday's competition with the highest cumulative team score after two rounds of competition, but its expectations of gold were dashed when two of its vaulters fell. No one was hurt.

"It was just one fall," team member Michaela Hohlmeier said later, looking shocked. "We were so perfect. I don't know what to say. It is sad.

"We have to analyze it before I can say more. We are all too surprised because it never happened before."

Part of vaulting is showmanship, and the Austrian vaulters, who won the bronze team medal, gave an energetic performance based on Cirque de Soleil, with athletes dressed in brightly colored costumes.

"You have to present yourself out there; it is very difficult," team member Daniela Penz said later. "If you have fun doing this sport, it is easier."

Vaulting is not acrobatics on horseback, though that's how some who are uninitiated think of it. Rather, it's more like a theatrical performance, with the athletes and horse moving together in time with the music, Maitozo said.